Gothamist’s Best Things to Do In NYC This Week

Nov 7, 2018

Part of the Schimmel Center’s 2018 dance series is the New York premiere of Calling Glenn, by Los Angeles–based dance company Ate9. Choreographed by Ate9’s artistic director Danielle Agami, the evening-length work features nine dancers as well as original music and percussion performed live by Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche, making for a unique, real-time collaboration between audible and visual arts.

Celebrate the anniversary of an anniversary, connecting musical culture in Harlem across generations. Twenty years ago, photographer Gordon Parks gathered more than 200 hip-hop artists in front of a Harlem stoop; the resulting image was the cover of the December 1998 issue of XXL Magazine. That photo was itself a callback: 40 years earlier, photographer Art Kane had gathered 57 jazz musicians in the same spot for his photo “Great Day in Harlem.” Now, the Schomberg Center presents a discussion with the editors and artists that made it all happen, including Sheena Lester, Michael Gonzales, Fab 5 Freddy, Styles P., and Vibe Magazine Editor in Chief Datwon Thomas. The conversation will be followed by a book signing with Vikki Tobak, author of Contact High: A Visual History of Hip-Hop.

Have a nosh and learn a bit of food history with some of the stars of the Jewish food movement at The Future of the Jewish Deli, in celebration of the 130th anniversary of Katz’s Delicatessen. The evening features a panel discussion with Katz’s owner Jake Dell, Russ & Daughters owner Niki Russ Federman, Gefilteria co-founder & chief pickler Jeffrey Yoskowitz, OneTable’s associate director of community partnerships Sarit Wishnevski, and Knish author Laura Silver, moderated by Food & Wine’s Jordana Rothman. After the discussion, enjoy a catered dinner from Katz’s and a meet & greet with the panelists.

When can a heterosexual man feel like a queen? At Gayme Show’s Straight Pageant, of course. The competition pits ten straight comedians against one another for a chance to be crowned Mister Queen of the Straights. Challenges include both casual and formal runway shows, a talent presentation, and a Q&A with hosts Dave Mizzoni and Matt Rogers. There will be a panel of judges, but the audience also gets to cast their votes for the straightest winner.

Flux Factory, one of the longest-running nonprofit arts groups in New York City, has been going strong for more than 30 years. One of their oldest programs is Flux Thursday, a potluck and salon that has been hosted weekly since the 1990s. Out of that series has grown the annual Iron Chef Flux, which is pretty much how it sounds: six Fluxers battle each other in a one-hour cooking contest with a secret ingredient revealed at the last minute. Judges include musician Rhonda Lowry, DJ PlayPlay, and a “younger, gayer, prettier Gwyneth Paltrow” (aka Seth Timothy Larson). Expect things to get a little kooky, and since it’s a potluck, bring something to share while you cheer on the culinary competitors.

After being shuttered for 20 years, Bed-Stuy’s historic Black Lady Theater reopened last year and has been mounting productions ever since. The latest offering, Stones in the Water, is about Haitian immigrants navigating life in Brooklyn in the 1970s, written by Nancy Fenelon, a Haitian American and a Brooklyn native. The play is hosted by Daughters of Ayiti, a production company that strives to pass on social consciousness through the arts.

This week is the 15th annual New York Comedy Festival, with more than 200 comedians putting on more than 100 shows across the city. One of tonight’s offerings is We Bee Spelling, a cross between a spelling bee and a late-night variety show. The evening’s hosts are Kyle Ayers, Ahri Findling, and Alex Greer, and there will be a passel of comedians trying to spell, against all odds: Corinne Fisher, Joe Zimmerman, Brendan Eyre, and Jordan Carlos will be sabotaged by the audience, expected to play ridiculous spelling-related games, and generally challenged absurdly all night long.

Dive into Future Proof’s dystopian world at the “cyberpunk Chuck E. Cheese,” Please Resist, Thank You. This immersive event features a bunch of custom-built, hacker-themed games and puzzles, including laser-tag deathmatches, a VR pod, tech piñatas, and interactive film screenings, all set to live music by Faith in the Glitch. This is the third Future Proof event in an ongoing narrative, but you don’t need to have attended the “vaporware dance party” Please Party, Thank You or the murder-mystery puzzle challenge A Death Well Died to get crazy at this one.

Founded in 2015, Well-Read Black Girl is a book club that amplifies black women’s voices in literature. The second-annual festival is a day-long celebration of African American female readers and writers, featuring dozens of authors including Jacqueline Woodson, Mahogany Browne, and Blair Imani. There will be talks, discussion groups, an intimate manifestation workshop, a YA panel on “black girl magic,” and much more.

It’s time once again for Comic Arts Brooklyn, the annual comics showcase presented by Williamsburg’s Desert Island Books. There will be 200+ artists and publishers exhibiting, autographing, and selling their work, from as far away as Japan, Finland, and Latvia; not to mention talks, workshops, interviews, and animated screenings. Some highlights include Jim Woodring leading a public drawing session with his seven-foot pen, underground Canadian artist Julie Doucet talking about “not giving a shit, and menstruation,” and a panel featuring members of Rhode Island’s long-running all-women artist collective Dirt Palace.